FEDUP Archives - Page 3 of 16

Feb 29

From Nairobi to Cape Town: Learning about Upgrading and Partnerships with Local Government

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN, Learning Exchanges, SDI No Comments

By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC)

From Ghetto informal settlement in Nairobi, the Kenyan SDI Alliance together with an official from the nearby Kiambu County Government visited the South African SDI Alliance on a learning exchange in Cape Town from 22 – 25 February 2016. Community leaders and an official from Ekurhuleni Municipality, near Johannesburg, also joined the group.

The purpose of the exchange was to share experiences regarding informal settlement upgrading, partnership formation between community movements and local governments, project planning, preparation and mobilisation processes. Kenya’s Federation, Muungano wa Wanavijiji has been supporting Ghetto community in obtaining tenure security and identifying housing beneficiaries. Currently the settlement is set for the final phase in a government-upgrading project that requires re-planning its public spaces and houses, a familiar process that the South African Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP) and Informal Settlement Network (ISN) call “reblocking”.

Priscilla, community leader in Sheffield Road speaks about reblocking

With introductions and an overview of the SA SDI Alliance on the first day, the visitors shared their key learning interests as relating to

Partnership Formation between communities themselves and between communities and local governments
Upgrading Processes – how communities organise themselves during upgrading, how technicalities in construction and implementation are dealt with, the role of project funding and community saving

Savings and Income Generation

With savings as the core practice of the SDI network, the afternoon visit took place at a FEDUP savings and income generation group in Samora Machel, Philippi. The group explained how its FEDUP membership enabled individuals to access small loans from the Federation Income Generation Program (FIGP). With a particular set of criteria for loan access, repayments and additional loan cycles, the group had established a number of small businesses such as beading, second hand clothing, fried chicken or locally tailored clothing.

The meeting sparked an animated discussion on how savers could maintain their momentum and interest in savings, especially after receiving a house or an informal settlement upgrade upgrading can be seen as fulfilling the “immediate savings purpose”. A loan group member explained that she viewed saving as valuable backup to draw on when problems arose. In Kenya, members became tired of “saving for nothing” – they therefore began using their savings in smaller projects while waiting for larger projects to occur. The Kenyan visitors further noted the value building trust between members through administering loans to small groups of five savers.

Mary Wambui (Kenya SDI Alliance) and John Mulia (Kenya Official) look at FEDUP savings book

FEDUP Income Generation businesses in Samora Machel

Reblocking in the City of Cape Town

Over the next two days the group traced re-blocking projects and informal settlement upgrading projects in the municipalities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch.

In Cape Town the SA SDI Alliance used its first re-blocking projects in Joe Slovo and Sheffield Road settlements to build a partnership with the City of Cape Town to jointly pursue future upgrading and reblocking projects. As a result the City adopted reblocking as a policy, an indicator of increased intent to engage with community-led processes. In Sheffield Road the group saw how reblocking establishes access routes, courtyards, increased space for communal water and sanitation installation as well as safer public open spaces. Since reblocking, the community has successfully negotiated for electricity installation.

Courtyard in Sheffield Road after reblocking

In Sheffield Road: Rashid and Samuel (Kenyan Federation) in discussion with Lulama (ISN leader for Philippi region)

Mtshini Wam was the first settlement that was reblocked in partnership with the City of Cape Town in 2013. While walking through the settlement the group noticed the improved differences between the projects: the layout of Mtshini Wam enabled 2 households to share water and sanitation facilities. Noticeably, a number of residents had self-built a second storey on to their structure after having participated in a community design process for double storey units as further development after upgrading. Through persistent negotiations after reblocking, the community received municipal electricity and ground levelling to mitigate flooding. ISN National Coordinator, Mzwanele Zulu, explained that such incremental upgrading contributed to incremental tenure security.

Double storey structures in Mtshini Wam

In Flamingo Crescent, the most recently upgraded settlement (2014), community leader Maria Matthews introduced the group to the settlement’s reblocking experience: engaging fellow community members to save, planning meetings with the City and community participation during reconstruction. Due to its enumeration figures and the reblocked layout, the community succeeded in negotiating for individual service installation and electricity per re-blocked household (1:1 services). Flamingo’s site was levelled with all access roads paved and named before erecting the reblocked structures. The visitors saw that for the SA Alliance, upgrading / reblocking is a cumulative experience, with consistent improvements in new projects based on past project learning.

“Reblocking made a big difference, but upgrading is far from over,” Maria Matthews explained. “We have many social and health problems remaining here.”

(Maria Matthews, Flamingo Crescent Community Leader)

Arrival in Flamingo Crescent

After reblocking in Flamingo. 1:1 Services per household.

Upgrading in Stellenbosch Municipality

In Langrug the group encountered an example of partial reblocking in a settlement about ten times the population size of those in Cape Town, with about 4000 residents. Community leader, Trevor Masiy, traced the settlement’s partnership with the SA SDI Alliance and the joint partnership agreement with Stellenbosch Municipality, which informed the settlement’s upgrading initiatives in drainage and storm water projects and two Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Facilities. Trevor also highlighted the challenges experienced by disrepair of past upgrading projects. He therefore emphasised the value of community involvement not only in project planning and implementation but also in maintenance.

Walking through partially reblocked section of Langrug.

View on to Langrug

Water and Sanitation Facility in Zwelitsha section, Langrug

Partnership Meetings

Two separate partnership meetings with Stellenbosch Municipality and the City of Cape Town allowed the visitors and two visiting officials an insight into the practical workings of partnership building and project negotiations. The partnership meetings in Cape Town and Stellenbosch focussed on updating all gathered on current project progress and discussions on renewing and continuing the partnership relationships. Discussion highlights included:

Cape Town

Alliance emphasises that its partnership focus with the City is not only reblocking but also informal settlement and area-wide upgrading

Stellenbosch

The muincipality explained that reblocking is not just about structure upgrades but about enabling basic service provision
The municipality spoke about its partnership with Langrug and SA Alliance as fluid, moving towards different ways and means of reaching a common goal

Partnership Meeting with Stellenbosch Municipality in Franschoek

Alliance begins Cape Town partnership meeting in song in Bosasa Community Hall, Mfuleni

Reflections and Learnings

On Upgrading:

“We have been focussing on permanent houses. This can become strenuous for communities because it demands resources and scaling up. But our thinking has changed when we saw how reblocking has attracted government attention. (Rashid Muka, Kenyan Federation Leader)

“In Kenya we always thought that upgrading means erecting permanent structures. I am learning about incremental upgrading – something I’d like to take home” (John Mulia, Kiambu County Government, Kenya)

“The value of an incremental approach is that you don’t start with the end product (a house) and impose it on a community. Upgrading is not only housing. You can be in a temporary shack and as long as you have opened up spaces to basic services, then that is upgrading.” (Mary Wambui, Kenyan SDI Alliance )

On Building Parternerships

“What is key in achieving a relationship with a municipality? Involving the community, drafting good plans and implementing precedent setting projects that can influence policy, especially if there is no policy yet” (Sizwe Mxobo, CORC Technical Support)

“Strong social movements that know what they want are important in building partnerships. They can remind municipalities about their commitments” (Nkokheli Ncambele, ISN Coordinator Western Cape)

“We want to pull stakeholders together and understand how to journey together. We want to be able to say this exchange gave birth to some of the lessons we learnt. What has come out clearly is the value of learning by doing.” (Rashid Muka, Kenyan Federation Leader)

Group gathers in a courtyard in Sheffield Road

On Community-Led Engagement

In this exchange I understood a lot about talking with communities. Government needs to understand the value of partners coming on board. The government of Kenya has made many plans but the community needs to point out what they want and need, not us the government. A project becomes sustainable when it is community driven.” (John Mulia, Kiambu County Government, Kenya)

Jan 28

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Umlilo! How a Mobilised Community Contained Fire Outbreak in Khayelitsha

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN No Comments

By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC)

“It was about ten to one. We were asleep and suddenly we just heard the ringing of the Lumkani fire detection device. Everyone was shouting ‘umlilo, umlilo!’ which means ‘fire, fire!’ When we woke up and went outside, it was easy to locate the fire because petrol makes high flames. We saw that the fire was burning an entire shack.” (Thamara Hela, Community Leader, UT Gardens)

ISN Community Leader Thamara Hela points to a structure that largely withstood the fire

The community of UT Gardens in Site B Khayelitsha partnered with the Informal Settlement Network (ISN) in early 2014 to install the Lumkani fire detection device in 250 of its 400 households as part of a broader approach to informal settlement upgrading. Since then, at least one fire broke out in the settlement due to an outdoor cooking fire. The incident occurred soon after the Lumkani device was installed in November 2014 and burnt only one shack as the community was alerted through the settlement-wide ringing of the Lumkani device. The fire on January 16, 2016 however, was different.

“It was very difficult to control the fire because of the wind. It spread quickly. Altogether 13 structures burnt down and 2 were damaged. In UT Gardens we have a total of 400 structures with 1402 people living in them. When I saw where the fire was, I called the fire brigade immediately. The owner and his girlfriend were still inside the burning structure. The fire brigade arrived quickly but it took long for them to get inside our settlement because it is so dense. We later found out from the owner of the structure that the fire was started on purpose because there was petrol poured around the structure by a woman in the community.” (Thamara Hela, Community Leader, UT Gardens)

Debris after the fire

Clearing debris the morning after the fire

Given the high density of structures the fire quickly spread to surrounding structures and burnt them down, including the home of ISN leader Lumka Khawuta.

“That night I slept at my friend’s place two structures away from my shack. My neighbour was screaming. She has asthma and knew that there was smoke. Before the device rang, she told us there was fire. When I checked, the fire had already reached my shack because it was very windy at that time. I tried calling my brother (we share a structure) and the fire station. There were 3 fire trucks. At first the water was not enough to combat the fire. Many neighbours woke up because the Lumkani device was ringing. As a team we tried to throw water on the flames. It was difficult to stop the fire from spreading because it was started by petrol and reached gas stoves in the other structures. It burnt down everything I have.” (Lumka Khawuta, UT Gardens)

Lumka Khawuta (far right) with installed Lumkani device in background

The community drew on the City of Cape Town’s advanced disaster kit, which provides 10m2 panels to each affected household. Due to its active membership in ISN and the community’s investment in the cost of the Lumkani device, the community engaged the SA SDI Alliance (including ISN) for assistance. The Alliance agreed to support the affected households with a further 10m2 of material. This enabled the community to rebuild structures at 20m2. Thamara and Lumka, both ISN leaders, pushed for the new structures to be erected in a reblocked layout which would facilitate easier emergency vehicle access and wider pathways between structures. This would enable a more long-term approach to mitigating fires in the future.

Reblocked layout co-designed by community members and CORC

Thamara Hela and Thembi Ngcuka (CORC) during reconstruction

View on to partially reblocked and reconstructed area with courtyard area in centre

The value of a community-wide response

“I am certain that if there was no wind that night less structures would have burnt. When you hear the ringing of the Lumkani device you always wake up because you know something is happening. First your device rings, then it spreads to the neighbours’ devices, then to the mother device. Then all devices in the community start ringing. We know that the devices cannot stop a fire. But if you are alerted you can at least do something about the fire.” (Thamara Hela, UT Gardens)

“The Lumkani device helped because it was making a lot of noise and woke everyone up. All my neighbours have Lumkani, so they got up to help other people.” (Lumka Khawuta, ISN Leader, UT Gardens)

“Seeing that the fire was a case of arson and involved petrol, the Lumkani system worked well; those in the line of the fire were able to wake up. 13 shacks were destroyed but we believe these would have been more without the device and perhaps there would have been lives lost.” (David Gluckman, Director of Lumkani)

“At first the community did not want to contribute to the device. But the reason ISN members believe in contributions is so that the community can help themselves. When we make contributions, we create order in our community. It makes people take responsibility” (Thamara Hela, UT Gardens)

In the reflections of Thamara, Lumka and David (Lumkani Director), the power of a community-wide response is evident. The value of a community-wide response is rooted in an approach where communities take the lead in their own development initiatives: from identifying the value of a technology to co-developing, co-financing co-implementing and co-assessing it.

Jan 22

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How Mpumalanga Youth Create Change, Acquire Land and Income

By Yolande Hendler FEDUP No Comments

By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC)

FEDUP’s KwaNdebele youth group in Mpumalanga

For Sylvia Mduli South Africa’s Youth Day on 16 June 2014 was energising and inspiring. She recounts how the Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor (FEDUP) gathered seventy FEDUP youth coordinators from across the country for a workshop in Durban. Discussions focussed on the youth’s experiences on the ground, their challenges and how they could use FEDUP’s mobilisation tools to organise themselves, build partnerships and influence change in their lives and communities.

“When I went to the youth exchange in Durban I saw how active other youth groups were and how they ran their youth activities. So I wanted to start my own youth group. Since then we have grown a lot and our members are doing many activities including income generation. Our challenge is that we need land for a youth office so we can do our work. We asked the FEDUP mamas to help us organise a partnership meeting with the local chiefs and councillor so we could share our work and negotiate for land”.

(Sylvia Mduli, Mpumalanga Youth Coordinator)

Sylvia Mduli (far left) with fellow FEDUP youth coordinators

The meeting took place in early December 2015 in KwaMhlangu and was supported by long-standing FEDUP coordinators Nomvula Mahlangu (Mpumalanga) and Rose Molokoane (National). The group introduced itself to the listeners present, speaking about membership, its momentum of gathering savings and their income generation initiatives. Sylvia explained that the group’s struggle for land was based on the aim of building their own houses. Their immediate priority, however, was acquiring land for a youth office that would be a space for gatherings and income generation activities such as beading or storing recyclables.

“In 2015 our group had 62 members – 40 women and 22 men. We saved a total of R 15 970. As a group we do daily savings and collect them from each member during door-to-door visits. We also do stokvel and birthday party savings. We meet every fortnight and exchange ideas. This is how we started recycling cans, bottles and boxes and selling them to the depot. We used our recycling income to organise an end-of-year party We also use our earnings for more income generation – some members have a hairsalon, utshisa nyama [street barbecue] or do beading. We also have a small catering business with 22 chairs that we rent out. We bought them for R40 each and rent them out for R7 each. You know we are always fighting for the money. Its not easy but we are trying!”

(Sylvia Mduli, Mpumalanga Youth Coordinator)

Mpumalanga youth collect door to door savings

Rose Molokoane (Left), Nomovula Mahlangu (Right)

Together with the chiefs and councillor the group inspected a large piece of land, a portion of which was promised to the youth in a prior meeting. Sylvia emphasised the success of the youth group’s meeting with the elders who agreed to sell a portion of land to them. They also supported a FEDUP by joining the FEDUP funeral scheme and requested that the youth group present their work to youth in the chiefs’ area. The councillor indicated his interest in engaging with the youth as a group that could mobilise the entire community.

“We now need to make a proposal to the chief and continue to save. It will be local elections soon so there will be a new councillor. This can be difficult but we will continue to talk to the new councillor. I have learnt that there are some organisations that you join and at the end you get nothing out of them. But with FEDUP it is “work for work”. “

(Sylvia Mduli, Mpumalanga Youth Coordinator)

Regional chief addresses the group.

In a country that has an “urbanising and youthful population” the priority of building South Africa’s youth is evident (see the National Development Plan (NDP)). While the youth-oriented lens of the NDP focuses on improvements in critical educational, social and economic indicators, the building of self-reliant youth movements is essential, especially in urban and rural poor contexts. FEDUP coordinator, Rose Molokoane underscores the point:

“We need an organised youth that is able to create an agenda of change in their lives. Our children grew up seeing their mothers create impact and opportunities for the poor in their communities. We are pulling the youth next to us to learn from us. To draw in the youth is to create the next level of leadership. There are so many service delivery protests in South Africa and it is heartbreaking to see the youth leading them. We need to groom new youth leaders that want to learn about new avenues to negotiate with the state. Because of unemployment we advise them not to sit down and wait for the work to come to them.”

Jan 15

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How to sustain and scale up fire sensor technologies in Kenya and South Africa?

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN No Comments

By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC)

A multi-stakeholder discussion kicked off in early January in Nairobi, Kenya to deliberate on the lessons learnt from the fire sensor installation pilot project. In July 2015, The American Red Cross initiated a fire sensor technology pilot in Mukuru, Kenya and Khayelitsha, South Africa. About 2000 fire sensors were installed in both informal settlements. The discussion dwelled on the lessons learnt during the implementation of the project. It also explored options and possibilities of scaling up the project to other vulnerable communities throughout the world.

CORC (Thandeka Tshabalala) and Red Cross in conversation on fire sensor technologies

A human centered design approach

How can the early warning sensor best address urban fires? Urban fires are amongst the highest occurring disasters affecting urban poor communities. The project intended at strengthening and equipping the communities to best respond to the fires. Community engagement, learning, education and empowerment were seen as the underlying principle for an effective fire sensor. Community feedback (more specially vulnerable groups) on the design and technology formed the conversation around community ownership and perception of the sensor. All in all, an early warning fire sensor alone is not a definitive solution but building community capacity such as community based fire fighters and stations (a small community station is proposed for Mukuru settlement) – is truly building community resilience in fire response mechanisms. The sustainability of the project is thus far dependent on the community contributing towards the purchase of the device taking responsibility in maintenance when necessary. However, in the long run the project aim is for the community to be involved in the formation of governance structures to eliminate any risks of fires and independently sustaining the community based firefighters and/or stations. Moreover, the project aims at linking the fire sensor distribution to address unemployment.

Are there possibilities of scaling up the fire sensor project?

Scaling up the project would positively impact more people and address fire vulnerabilities at a global scale. However, context, urban mobility and sustainability are to be significantly considered. A fire sensor well suited to the context is important i.e. building material, sources of fires (wild or household fires) and local capital. For example, when comparing the two fire sensor models, one device had an added element of a smoke detector, which also slightly increased the cost of the device. Yet the Lumkani device, used in South Africa, focused on measuring the rate of rising temperatures in small structures is best used in this context, e.g. zinc structures or small tents such as in refugee camps. Most urban populations are constantly in transit and in search for better economic opportunities. The residents in Mukuru are mostly tenants while in Khayelitsha they are ‘owners’ of the shacks. Due to flood threats, soon after the installation of the devices some of the tenants in Mukuru had already relocated to other parts of the city taking the device along. The relocation posed a difficulty in engaging the community around coordinated response mechanisms. In South Africa, a community response to fires is dependent on networked devices giving an alert. Shacks with no devices pose a threat to the rest of the community should the fire start in them.

The Lumkani device

When discussing long-term effectiveness of the sensor project for the wider vulnerable communities three words arise: scaling-up, sustainability and transferability. What role do donors play in the funding process? Upscaling the project requires multilateral partnerships and synergies with other projects to pool resources together. This calls for global advocacy to governments, especially to focus on fire prevention mechanisms instead of a responsive reaction to fire. This means building partnerships for infrastructure investment in the communities. Opening up access routes, disaster resistant material and water points should be a priority. In some instances the community and/ or fire services respond to fires before they create a lot of damage. However, in other instances this is not the case due to lack of access routes and dangerously hanging electrical wires which restrict fire engines who are unable to respond effectively.

Visit to Mukuru, Nairobi

Team site visit in Mukuru

From project to program: what still needs to be done?

There is still a need for data collection as a strategic tool to provide mechanisms for generating basic data on fire hazards, vulnerabilities and losses. Even though the fire department collects data on every fire occurrence the data is still not used to influence investment in fire prevention, preparedness and mitigation infrastructure. The hope to increase awareness at both community and institutional levels through data collection tools, improves risk identification and the use of knowledge, innovation & education to build a culture of safety. User friendly data can be used to target certain age groups so as to make fire awareness attractive and also strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response. This will enable the move from risk management through emergency relief and response towards a partner based early warning risk management. After each fire disaster in Khayelitsha, disaster management organizations respond with relief material that the community uses immediately to start rebuilding. This project aims to showcase that this approach needs to end and instead encourages the approach of preparing communities to better deal with urban fires.

Dec 18

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Where to from here? Reflections on the Global and Local Urban Landscape

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN, uTshani Fund No Comments

As 2015 draws to a close, we reflect on global and localised responses to rapid urbanisation, the mushrooming of informal settlements and the position and potential of the urban and rural poor within these realities. In particular we examine the response and strategy of the South African SDI Alliance as it builds community capacity and advocates for the building of inclusive cities with inclusionary decision-making structures.

The Global Landscape

The year 2015 marked a significant transition in the global development agenda. The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set new and ambitious targets for global development practice. While the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) introduced socially responsible goals in national and institutional budgets and resource allocation, they did little to affect institutional decision-making.

FEDUP Saver, Sophie Mofokeng at Savings Gathering in Mahikeng, North West Province

For the urban poor, therefore, a post-2015 framework that foregrounds the influential inclusion of the poor is crucial. The challenge is for governments to rethink development institutions so that poor people are included in decision-making on finance, program conception and project implementation.

SDI start a session at World Urban Forum 7 with Alliance anthem

The SDGs also need to be clear about what we actually mean by “inclusion” and “participation”. For the SDI network, the key is not to dictate specific policies and interventions for every country but to articulate specific principles of institutional inclusion and material outcomes:

Inclusive institution building. State institutions to be created to embed partnerships with community organisations, especially at the city level to drive decision-making about programs and financial allocations for development of urban infrastructure.
Inclusive land management. Well-located land made available to the urban poor. This should ensure zero forced evictions, and grant security of tenure so as to make investment in infrastructure viable for both local government and slum dweller communities.
Inclusive urban infrastructure. Water, sanitation, electricity, and transport infrastructure that services the poor so as to achieve zero-open defecation cities globally within 10 years, electricity for all, and 100% improvement in life-affirming job opportunities over 10 years.
Inclusive community development. Programmatic investment by national and local authorities in capacity building of community organisations so as to continue deepening the inclusive development agenda highlighted in the first three elements.

Urban Poverty and South Africa

Queuing for social grants in Bethal Mpumalanga

South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030 (NDP, Chapter 8) emphasises the need to address spatial divides that have been perpetuated by post-1994 policies, placing low-income housing on the periphery of cities. Recommendation include the upgrading of all informal settlements on suitable, well located land by 2030, ensuring better quality public transport, ensuring that people live closer to their places of work and more jobs in or close to dense, urban townships.

Government’s Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) for the electoral period 2014-2019 sets out to implement the NDPs vision with a focus on radical economic transformation and improved service delivery. Outcome 8 outlines the situation for human settlements: despite the delivery of 3.8million subsidised houses since 1994, 2700 informal settlements accommodate a further 1.2million households with 713 000 more households living in backyard shacks. The Department’s broad vision is to see “adequate housing and improved quality living environments with 1.5 million more households living in new or improved housing conditions by 2019” (MTSF Outcome 8, p.26). A prominent aspect includes the upgrading of 750 000 households and ensuring basic services and infrastructure in 2200 informal settlements through the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP).

FEDUP income generation initiative in Limpopo

However, the Department’s rapid appraisal of Outcome 8 (Oct. 2014) notes that UISP has not been applied as easily as was intended: the UISP grant has been used to fund alternative housing programs and has been characterised by a lack of deep community engagement. Similarly, the People’s Housing Process (PHP) was not generally “considered a programme for delivering at scale because of the community engagement element and the manner in which people are involved in building their own shelters” (Rapid Appraisal Outcome 8, p. 27). In response, a core recommendation relates to “an attitudinal shift amongst provinces and local government staff in terms of how they approach informality. A positive attitude is desirable “ (p.39).

Joint Planning in Khayelitsha Cape Town

The capacity and the will for building inclusive cities with inclusionary decision-making, project preparation and project implementation structures is low. The role of urban poor participation in building “integrated” human settlements seems to be marginal. The strategy of the SA SDI Alliance in response? Supporting shack dwellers with tools that enable them to know their communities and their cities in order to implement precedent-setting projects that leverage participatory and inclusive partnerships with government. Amandla Imali Nolwazi. Power is Money and Knowledge. Know Your Community, Know Your City to build inclusive cities.

Dec 11

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Expanding Informal Settlement Upgrading through Khayalethu Livelihood Initiatives

By Yolande Hendler FEDUP, ISN One Comment

By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC)

As the last quarter of the year comes to an end, we take time to give an overview of the Alliance’s Khayalethu livelihoods initiatives that have been supported by the Alliance’s City Fund.

The Khayalethu Initiative supported by UK funder Comic Relief is a collaborative platform between three urban sector NGOs including CORC, on behalf of the SA SDI Alliance. CORC’s work centers on the creation of a City Fund that would act as a citywide finance facility for community identified upgrading and livelihood projects in Cape Town. The aim is to leverage partnership and financial contributions by municipal counterparts. (Read more here.)

The Khayalethu livelihoods initiatives aim to demonstrate the linkage between informal settlement upgrading and sustainable livelihoods. The SA SDI Alliance has recognized that there is critical need to move beyond informal settlement upgrading, with a focus on infrastructure and basic services provision to improved livelihoods and income generating initiatives within informal settlement communities. In-situ upgrading with minimum relocations adds value to strengthening livelihood opportunities because community governance is strengthened and community vulnerabilities such as basic infrastructural services (e.g. water, sanitation, electricity), shelter, social services (e.g. education, health care, Early Childhood Development) and skills development is dealt with during these upgrades.

Consequently, community socio-economic vulnerabilities such as crime, unemployment and access to education or health care are usually identified during the profiling and enumeration exercise. With all the challenges facing low-income households in informal settlements the Alliance, together with communities, aims to find strategies to strengthen and enhance livelihoods in informal settlements. The focus on improving people’s livelihoods is about improving their living conditions, quality of life and prospects for the future. The emphasis is on creating sustainability and resilience within the community with little reliance on external sources. This is reflected in a phrase often used by Alliance members: we use what we have, where we are. The Khayalethu livelihoods programs highlighted here, respond to unemployment, food security, lack of access to early childhood development and strengthening livelihood through skills development.

Community Bakeries

The project was initiated in October 2014 as a social enterprise and livelihood opportunity for the ISN and FEDUP members. Ten groups consisting of 5 members were selected from several communities within Cape Town namely Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Gugulethu and Philipi. The members’ trust among each other and eagerness to start the business was the driver for the project. Members were selected from the existing savings schemes and community members who had the will to start a business. Saving was emphasized as the main driver of a successful collective based business. Savings as the backbone of the alliance brought several benefits to the groups such as building trust among members and providing resources for the business. A baker-to-baker exchange was used to strengthen and transfer knowledge among members. The exchange assisted the groups’ improvement in product quality and solidarity among group members. Bakers from well performing groups visited bakers from non-performing groups and visa versa. They all spent the day baking and marketing the product.

The challenges of setting up the community bakeries were building solidarity among members through a well-kept financial record and constitution. Due to the lack of basic numeracy and business management skills setting up a collective enterprise takes up a lot of mentorship. However, participants with existing or previously owned businesses proved to be successful because they understood the basic principles of operating a business. Other challenges such as crime and lack of access to trading spaces take a toll in the growth of such small businesses. As spaces in informal settlements are highly regulated by the local municipality, community members needed to get permission from the local municipality to put up trading stalls. They were therefore forced to bake from their homes.

Training and skills development

In partnership with The Business Place and The Tourism Business Institute of South Africa (TTBISA), community members with existing businesses were given skills development training. TTBISA with the support from Food and Beverage Seta offered a baking and hospitality learnership for 14 youth members from the community bakeries. The learnership equipped the bakers with business management and baking skills. With the stipends received from the learnership the students contributed towards the growth of their businesses. They were placed in various retail shops in the city so that they can learn more about customer relations and management of their businesses.

The Business Place offered short training courses on market research, business banking, costing and pricing of products to small business owners in the communities. The courses were offered to people who wanted to start, improve or expand their business. This opportunity was expanded to members of the Federation Income Generation Program (FIGP), who, after accessing loans they were mentored on how to start a small sustainable business.

Food security and nutrition through Gardening

Due to high unemployment rates and distant location of certain settlements from economic opportunities, food gardens become an important vehicle to address food security and nutrition among low-income groups and informal settlements. In partnership with Soil for Life the Alliance trained community members in organic farming. For three months the community-farming group is trained in building the soil (most of the soil in Khayelitsha is sandy and becomes difficult to grow food), transplanting and developing the vegetables. Sustainability of the gardens is vital hence the groups are taught how to build their own compost and harvest seeds for the next crop. Due to lack of space in informal settlements, Soil for Life places emphasis on growing vegetables in limited spaces, containers and bags.

Livelihoods through recycling

The Solid Waste Network (SWN) is a network of approximately 1500 informal waste pickers in informal settlements. The recycling program is a social enterprise program with the aim of delivering a unique and value adding collection and payment service to informal waste pickers across Cape Town. The goal of this initiative is to create access to livelihoods and income generating opportunities for informal settlement residents through the recycling of glass, plastic and paper waste.

Despite being targeted by criminals during collections and experiencing product pricing fluctuations, the SWN managed to sustain its operations. In order to strengthen the network cluster meetings, recycling workshops were used to create awareness about recycling. Therefore, the strength of the program lies in the collective: collectively waste pickers removed 50 tons of waste.

Early Childhood Development

Early childhood development is important for the growth and education of all children. While planning a multi-purpose centre, the community of K2 in Site B, Khayelitsha decided to start an informal space-based crèche. The analysis of the enumeration showed that there was a high number of children not attending crèche. This was partly due to the high unemployment rate in the settlement and the parents’ inability to afford crèche fees. The residents used the results from the enumeration to improve access to early childhood development for their children. In partnership with Sikhula Sonke, the community has started an informal learning space, which will be integrated into the multi-purpose centre once completed.

Dec 04

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Community Voices: “In Tambo Square, residents did not give up”

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN, News No Comments

By Tambo Square community members (on behalf of ISN)

This blog was written by the community of Tambo Square in Mfuleni, Cape Town, namely: Babalwa Sabe, Nomaphelo Voyi, Nosikolise Swaphi,Asanda Kumbaca,Nokubonga Stefans,Lindiswa Lufefe,Ntandazo Mtshonono, Yoliswa Tsono,Tabisa Matiwane,Stutu Yamani,Nolusindiso Zakaza,Nomaphelo Zakaza,Ayanda Langa,Vangeliswa Sobamba,Phindile Faro and Nkosikhona Bangiso.

This is the third blog in the Alliance’s Community Voices series. Community Voices shares community-narrated experiences that highlight the value of a people-led approach that is underpinned by an organised community structure. For the Alliance, a people-centred approach is crucial for building collaborative partnerships between local governments, informal settlement dwellers and other stakeholders. Through a series of workshops of collaborative documentation and story-telling, FEDUP and ISN members, with the support of CORC’s documentation team, produce community-generated documentation, as part of elevating the voice of the urban poor.

Documentation workshop at Tambo Square

Community Documenting at Tambo Square

History of settlement

Tambo Square is situated in Tokwana Street and lies adjacent to the Sandra Child Centre in Extension 6 of Mfuleni. The 1846m² land size holds 60 households with a population of 119 people.

As residents of Tambo Square, we had different reasons for moving to the open space which is now called Tambo Square. Some of us were backyarders. When we saw an open space and decided to occupy it, some moved out from our surrounding family and saw a vacant land and occupied it. Others couldn’t afford renting anymore. When we saw people occupying the space, we then decided to join. In 2008 the City’s anti -land invasion unit demolished our structures, But residents didn’t give up and we decided to build our structures again.

“During winter season, this area gets flooded and our furniture gets ruined but the major issue is watching our children suffer because we can’t afford better homes for them.”

Nomaphelo Voyi, Community Leader of Tambo Square

Community of Tambo square doing house designs with technical team

Community Leaders Nomaphelo Voyi and Nkosikhona Bangiso plan the layout of their settlement with support form CORC technical team

Challenges

Electricity

Our biggest challenge is not having electricity. We need to find money every month to be able to connect illegally from the surrounding formal houses. We spend almost R500 just to get our tap connected.

Toilets

The toilets are far for some of the residents and we have to walk quite a distance to access it. During night time or winter season we fear using them because the crime rate in Mfuleni is quite high.

Dustbins

We feel that our settlement would be much neater if we had dust bins to throw our unwanted materials. Since we don’t have bins we now have rats due to people throwing dirt wherever they see a space. This is a health hazard for us.

Proper roads

Our settlement is dense, this makes it harder for emergency vehicles to come and help during time of need. If we can catch fire all our shacks would burn in the blaze. Another problem is because of the density of the area, criminals find it easy to do robberies here because one will not know where they went.

Tambo Square Writing and Story-Telling Workshop

Documentation workshop in Tambo Square

How we met ISN

In October 2014, we decided to seek help in trying to better our living conditions since we didn’t have any basic services. This is when we met the Informal Settlement Network (ISN). The community approached Western Cape ISN Coordinator, Nkokheli Ncambele, who introduced the community to the SA SDI Alliance. ISN introduced us to the Alliance tools which meant we had to do community-led profiling and enumerations with the support of the CORC technical team. A group of us went on an exchange to Flamingo Crescent to learn about informal settlement upgrading & reblocking. By June 2015 our community leaders had already partnered with ISN, the SA SDI Alliance and the City of Cape Town for 10 toilets and 5 water stands.This was a victory for us. At first the City said that Tambo Square is too dense for services. ISN suggested that we move a large container that was standing in front of our settlement to make space for services. When we presented this to the City their response changed and they agreed (read blog on water and sanitation here).

Documentation Workshop

Through its partnership with ISN and the City of Cape Town, Tambo Square is set for upgrading and reblocking in February 2016, which will enable 1:1 service installation. The upgrading of Tambo Square is activating a more nuanced and community-led approach. The partnership between Tambo Square, the Alliance and the City draws on organised community (leadership) structures. These activate community- based savings, data collection and joint partnership meetings with City officials and the Alliance throughout project preparation and implementation.

*Blog compiled by Andiswa Meke and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC)

Nov 27

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FEDUP’s Yona Yethu Youth Group Tackles Unemployment in Gauteng

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN No Comments

By Motebang Matsela (on behalf of CORC)

Yona Yethu is a group formed on 25 April 2013 by eight youth members of the Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor (FEDUP) who reside in Blue Gum View section of Gauteng’s Duduza informal settlement. With the aim of changing their environment the group formed a non-profit organisation that goes under Yona Yethu, with a membership that has increased to 42 dedicated individuals.

Yona Yethu Background

The sprawl of unemployment within this community led the group to come together and address unemployment in an effort to alleviate poverty, drug and alcohol abuse. This motivated the group to make a difference within their neighbourhood, hoping to extend their initiative to the greater community, in time. While other youth point fingers at the government, blaming it for unemployment in townships, Yona Yethu thinks of different ways of tackling their social concerns.

Yona Yethu Projects

Cleaning of dumping site
The group started with cleaning and clearing an illegal dump site situated near their settlement. They first mobilised each other around environmental concerns and lack of recreational space. Secondly, they created an opportunity to generate income through recycling, a car wash and waste & refuse management initiative which includes bin cleaning, arts & crafts and landscaping. Initially the funds generated were utilised to register this entity legally as a cooperative with the relevant department or institution. Presently the income is directed towards savings. The savings are timeously utilised for operations and purchasing of new materials where deemed fit.

Fighting illegal dumping brought about a concern for the environment and taking actin to ensure the safety of children who were often seen playing in the rubble and refuse that posed health and safety hazards. The team embarked on cleaning those sites to create what they regarded as an informal community park. The social spaces that they managed to create through beautiful landscaping has been their response to the lack of recreational spaces in their township, for the youth and adults to enjoy equally.

Yona Yethu won the Botho ke Bokamoso Award (Humanity is the Future Award) for the best new project in 2014, hosted by the Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality. This award was accompanied by a prize of R50 000 shared amongst two groups. They have managed to build a working partnership with the Municipality which is committed to giving ongoing support through agricultural training programs. With this skills training the members are looking at developing food gardens to sell freshly harvested produce which will be used as a form of income generation and to tackle youth unemployment.

Added to this commitment, the waste and refuse management team receives training which supplies them with refuse bags and other materials to conduct their work. The municipality has also scheduled a new training for the youth which will focus on water and sanitation with the possibility that after completion of training the youth will get employment from the relevant department.

Duduza resident, Innocent Ndlela, said he is very proud of what the young people are doing for the community while also making ends meet at home. He encouraged them to continue doing a good job that benefits the community:

“I like that they are fighting against one of the biggest challenges in our township which is illegal dumping. Many residents, including children have been sick as a result of the filthiness in the dumping sites next to our homes. It is not always up to the government to create jobs but the youth needs to stand up and pave their way to success.”

The hard work conducted by the team has lured external stakeholders like Valley Steel to support the team with protective gears such as gloves,boots and overalls that will be useful in the daily activities of the group.

Recycling

Moreover, this team has been attracting the interest of other external stakeholders like Valley Steel which supports the team with protective gear like gloves, boots and overalls to conduct their daily activities. Interested parties like this were drawn in by the efforts put by Yona Yethu. It was evident that there are concerned citizens of South Africa making it easier for support to come.

The recycling program includes the collection of recyclable materials which the group sell to recyclers once a certain amount is reached. This is done through their waste & refuse management activities, where they identify any recyclables from households refuse bins before the Municipal waste removal teams collect the contents in the township on Tuesdays. As soon as the municipal collection is done, the group washes the bins and fits them with a new refuse bag as a service to those willing to pay for it. The charge for cleaning in R20 which rises to R30 with an addition of a refuse bag. The income generated is reinvested back into the business, some saved and some is used to pay wages to those conducting the work.

Art Work
Unemployment drove the youth to come together and share their skills and knowledge in order to create employment for themselves. The members have different skills and interests, though all aimed at one goal. This has allowed the group to be involved in different projects such as performances, making arts and crafts. Regular meetings to collect creative ideas and share thoughts and skills in the process are an important feature. The money made is invested back into the business for equipment and materials, and the rest follows similar processes as mentioned above.

Their artistic ability is evident on a daily basis through art installations created with the ones partaking in the landscaping through artefacts like water fountains. Hlabane Mokoena, a member of the organisation, also pointed to the installation of a self-built water fountain at the park.

“With the different skills that each one of us has, we work together to provide the community with what is useful to them. We also make profit from self-made wire-cars. One of our challenges are residents who undermine us ” said Mokoena. Others give discouraging comments, doubting our ability”

Car wash
Not far from the park is a car wash that the group has opened with the aim of generating income. This was one of the initial ideas the team identified as a income generation method, that is still operational till today. The car wash is actually one of the profitable undertakings by this team as it generates a large amount without a high initial capital cost. The car wash employed four of the Yona Yethu members who are committed daily to the operations and bookkeeping as needed. The team is then paid from the profits that it generates. One challenge experienced with this particular business is the competition the group faces as there are many carwashes operating in the surrounding area. This means that they have to work hard to uphold a good reputation and strengthen their marketing.

Nov 13

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An approach to community-led upgrading: TT Community Hall in Khayelitsha

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN No Comments

By Andiswa Meke (on behalf of CORC)

For years the government has been testing different solutions with regard to bringing basic services to poor people and engaging with rapid urbanisation in South African cities. At times, these approaches are characterised by technically driven solutions that do not consider social use of infrastructure by community members. At others, there is a lack of service delivery altogether due to an often expressed perception by local government that is impossible to install services in dense and haphazardly structured informal settlements.

In response informal settlements affiliated to the Informal Settlement Network (ISN) organise themselves and explore innovative options that present alternative, community-led practice to local government and better their living conditions. TT is one of the oldest informal settlements in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Yet they still have no basic services.

Community Profiling and Enumerations.

The blog looks at the upgrading of TT community hall as an example of what communities are doing for themselves when supported with the tools to organise themselves and identify their own development priorities. Communities like TT have realised that they are the help they need to foster change and therefore need to be the ones gearing up their own upgrading processes.

Background of TT informal settlement

TT dates back to the late 80`s. According to a 2010 enumeration report by the Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC), the settlement had a population of 995 people in 339 households. The City of Cape Town installed Toilets and taps, this is how the settlement have access to water and sanitation. TT section is located in Site B in Khayelitsha, it lies opposite Mangaliso Primary school, with 79% of the settlement depending on social grants as a form of income.

Initially the structure that is now a hall belonged to a particular lady. She then donated her shack to the community to use as a hall where they could hold meetings and church services. However, over the years the structure lost its value as the material it was built in became old and flooded during winter because it was not developed properly.

In the beginning of 2015 the community of TT approached ISN to assist them with upgrading their hall because it was old and the material allowed for bad conditions especially during the winter season.

Alliance Processes

In 2009, ISN first visited the settlement on a mobilisation trip. After intense engagements, the community was convinced of ISN’s approach and willing to engage with the tools of the SA SDI Alliance. It was after that, the community elected 15 members to enumerate the settlement. TT profiled the settlement with the technical support from CORC who also assisted the community with house modelling, planning and design. The community then identified their needs as a community which included partial reblocking and a community hall; but they wanted the hall to take first priority. There were two profiling and enumerations done, one was done 2009 and a new one is being done currently.

Community doing planning

TT community planning with old structure

October 2015 marked the start of upgrading the hall which is expected to be completed within December. The steering committee is heading up the project with support from ISN and CORC.

Features of the upgraded hall

The main feature on the hall is that the material used is non -combustible which decreases the chances of the hall catching fire. The hall has been approved by the City of Cape Town fire department.
Another is that the hall has a front and a back exit which could be accessed by all the members depending which side is closest for them.
The floor is cemented and well paved which will prevent the flooding during winter season.

TT Community Hall during upgrading process

Challenges & Learning Points

The challenge the community is experiencing is communication barriers with the suppliers of material and this has caused some delays.
The value of ISN support on the ground.
The value of regular site visits by all invovled actors during the projects to inspect the progress and address challenges that may arise during each stage of upgrading.
The community has learnt how to engage with different stakeholders regarding their needs and the importance of unity, communication and cooperation when a settlement wants to change their living conditions.

Nov 06

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Community Voices: “Is BholoBholo a place we can call home?”

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN No Comments

By members of Bholobholo Informal Settlement (on behalf of ISN)*

For the SA SDI Alliance community-produced documentation is crucial. Engaging communities with such processes enables them to drive their own development interests and also positions them to share their experiences in community organization processes such as informal settlement upgrading. IN this way communities demonstrate the approach of the SA SDI Alliance: “Nothing for us without us”.

This blog was written by community members of Bholobholo, namely Nosipho Dzingwa,Masixole Siyaphi,Thabisa Kebe,Bulelwa Dunjwa, Thembela Spele,Nosiphathise Halile,Xolani Maqoko,Lulama Giyama,Zingiswa Tshwela and Mrs Duda.

Community Documentation Workshop with BholoBholo

History of the settlement

BholoBholo is located on a traffic circle intersection in Extension 6 in Mfuleni Cape Town. This is one of the smallest informal settlements in Cape Town with a land size of 912m².

We were backyarders in the surrounding formal houses. In 2006, we moved to an open space [which later became BholoBholo]. This was the time that plot owners were going to receive RDP houses. Since then we never moved back because the plot owners claimed that they did not have space for backyarders anymore. The church was built in 2007 and several more people joined as they saw an open space too. Some residents in BholoBholo bought shacks and joined the community in this way. To date we have 15 households with 33 people.

BholoBholo is an isiXhosa name for the intestine called ileum. The name came to the settlement because of the street vendors in front of the settlement that sell meat including intestines called uBholobholo. BholoBholo was an open space separating the meat vendors and the formal houses. This space was used for meetings and other activities such as a soccer field for kids.

This blog was written by the community of Bholobholo.

Bholobholo community leaders and community design team members

Our reality now

Like any informal settlement, BholoBholo community is faced with a number of challenges which include:

Electricity

The community of BholoBholo have used illegal connections for electricity, they pay a high amount to the nearest houses just to get their tap connected. These illegal connections are a danger to the kids that play in the area hence they might touch the wires and be shocked or worse, killed.

Toilets and Taps

There are a total of four taps in BholoBholo of which two do not work properly. There is also a strong need for taps in the community because we share the ones we have with the meat vendors.We don’t have proper toilets, we make use of the bushes or ask to use the toilet in the formal houses.

Multipurpose Hall and Park

We also need a hall to hold meetings and community events and a park for children to play in and be safe.

Proper road access

“I wonder what would happen if our settlement could be in a fire? Who would we turn to?”

Masixole Siyaphi, Community leader in Bholobholo.

We need roads so that emergency vehicles can be able to assist us in time of need. Having roads/streets would make the place look neat and easy to find because now it takes longer to find a house number when needed.

Another major problem we are faced with is the dirt caused by the street vendors who use the dumping site to dump meat that they cannot sell. This causes an odor that can be a health hazard and attracts mosquitoes and rats that later bite the children.

Writing workshop with the community of Bholobholo.

How did we meet ISN?

Nkokheli Ncambele is the one who introduced us to the Informal Settlement Network (ISN) when ISN came to mobilise our settlement. We then attended meetings and learnt the rituals of the alliance. After that we started with the community organisation processes. Our settlement was enumerated by 2 members of the community which we selected ourselves. We also profiled the settlement together as the community. To date we are waiting for reblocking because we have completed the designs together with the CORC technical team. These plans are important to us because

“we want our children to have a place to call home and be safe”

Nosipho Dzingwa, BholoBholo community leader

Community mapping supported by CORC technical team

*Blog compiled by Andiswa Meke (on behalf of CORC)

FEDUP

From Nairobi to Cape Town: Learning about Upgrading and Partnerships with Local Government

Umlilo! How a Mobilised Community Contained Fire Outbreak in Khayelitsha

How Mpumalanga Youth Create Change, Acquire Land and Income

How to sustain and scale up fire sensor technologies in Kenya and South Africa?

Where to from here? Reflections on the Global and Local Urban Landscape

Expanding Informal Settlement Upgrading through Khayalethu Livelihood Initiatives

Community Voices: “In Tambo Square, residents did not give up”

FEDUP’s Yona Yethu Youth Group Tackles Unemployment in Gauteng

An approach to community-led upgrading: TT Community Hall in Khayelitsha

Community Voices: “Is BholoBholo a place we can call home?”

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